GG Women vs RCB Women, 5th Match at Bengaluru, WPL, Feb 27 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10:40pm That will be that from us, folks. We will be back again tomorrow, with the Mumbai Indians clashing swords with the UP Warriorz. Until then, this is goodbye from all of us. Take care, goodnight!

Smriti Mandhana, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain: Really happy the way the crowd turned up, so a big shoutout to them as well. There was no message, it was to keep it simple - just watch the ball and react. Sometimes these totals can be tricky if you lose 2-3 early wickets. (On how they decided who bowls with the new ball) Last match, it was more to do with what happened in the first innings. Sophie and Renuka can both swing the ball. We saw the last match here, there was something in it for the pacers. Both of them were brilliant. Meghana has been a seasoned player in domestic cricket. She was brilliant in the last game to take the team through. She was really calm today. Best thing about her is she can strike at a good rate and also anchor the innings. Lots of work has been done in the last year to get the right combination. This is just the start, we need to keep doing things right.

Renuka Singh, Player of the Match:Very happy, bowled such a spell after a long time, especially after injury. I have been doing a lot of hard work, hence I am happy because I am now getting the results. I had been chatting to our bowling coach Troy. He asked me to work on this (bowling from around the stumps) and I was practicing this when I was preparing at the NCA.

Ishq: "RCB will move to the top Now! " -- They have indeed.

Beth Mooney, Gujarat Giants captain: (Why she is smiling) That it is over. Defending a low total is always going to be hard on these pitches and against this line-up. Have to go back to the drawing board and work out what will work for us moving forward. I don't think I believe in form in this format. If we start scoring runs in the next two, we will forget about the first two. We have to score off a few more balls in the middle. If we do that, we can probably get to 140-150. We just thought RCB had a few spinners. She (Veda) is good against spin and that might free her up. Unfortunately, it did not work tonight. (On keeping a left-right combination going) I might drop myself down the order if I keep going the way I am going (smiles). T20 is a fickle game and it can change quickly, we just need to hang in there. The girls in the group have been picked up for a reason and we just hope they believe in that a little bit more. We cannot keep changing the players every year and expect to set the world on fire. Hopefully we can stick with the group and try and get the best out of them, individually and on a collective basis.

S Meghana: Today, I just wanted to take the confidence from the first game and play my natural game. Wanted to utilize the powerplay and it worked well for me. After Smriti got out, I just wanted to rotate strike and give more strike to Perry. I just got the message to calm down, and just hit the ball if it was there to be hit. Otherwise just keep taking the singles. I have got a lot of support from Smriti and the team. That has given me so much confidence to play my natural game and to take time (at the start). Just trying to stay relaxed and hitting whatever is in my area.

10:16pm RCB do it at a canter. Their bowlers set up the game but they will also be thrilled by how their captain batted, scoring 43 off 27. Perry and Meghana looked in excellent touch too, and that should hold them in good stead moving forward, especially as they look to build on this new-found momentum.

Nothing to really shout about from a Giants perspective. They were woefully behind the game at the half-way stage and did nothing to change that. The pacers bowled a little all over the place and the only bowler to emerge with some credit was Gardner. They have not been at the races so far this WPL, and will need to figure out a way to get better soon.

Just 11 needed. Can RCB finish it off this over? Meghna to bowl

Kanwar to continue